Eagles mauled by rampant Lionesses losing 5-1 at Hayes Lane

Crystal Palace 1-5 London City Lionesses A brace from Amy Rodgers helped London City Lionesses thrash Crystal Palace 5-1 at Hayes Lane. Charlotte Fleming, Mollie Rouse and an own goal from Grace Coombs settled the game for the visitors as they continue to keep the pressure on Liverpool at the top of the Women’s Championship. For Palace, however, this was a third defeat in their last four league games. Lionesses threatened in the opening stages, Rouse whipping in an inch-perfect cross which was cleared by the Palace backline.

Melissa Phillips’ side continued their dominant start and some great link-up play between Rouse and Atlanta Primus forced Palace goalkeeper Emily Orman into a smart save. The visitors broke the deadlock in the 18th minute through Fleming, who sent a right-footed strike into the bottom left-corner to give Lionesses a deserved lead. Lionesses doubled their lead shortly afterwards when Rodgers was left unmarked and curled the ball into the roof of the net from the right-hand corner of the box. And it was 3-0 inside 25 minutes when Dean Davenport’s side failed to clear their lines following an inswinging corner which was eventually deflected into her own net by Grace Coombs. Shae Yanez produced a string of outstanding saves from Millie Farrow at the end of the first half as Palace threatened a response but Lionesses stretched their lead after the break when Rouse headed home from Shanade Hopcroft’s resulting corner. Palace immediately pulled a goal back as Farrow ran onto Bianca Baptiste’s wonderful defence-splitting pass before firing home. In the 61st minute, Karin Muya delivered a dangerous cross to Rodgers, who slotted the ball past Orman for her second goal of the game to secure all three points. To follow the action and sign up for The FA Player’s live Barclays FA Women’s Super League coverage, visit womenscompetitions.thefa.com Crystal Palace manager Dean Davenport said: “We gave far too many sloppy goals away but one thing I will say is that I don’t really believe it was a 5-1 game. “We played some positive stuff but if we are going to give away the goals and chances we have given away today, we deserve to be punished. “London City Lionesses are a good side but I thought we started really well and pressed really well. “You saw a new energy from us today which was good for the first half-hour and to concede the goal against the run of play, again from sloppiness, shouldn’t have happened. “It put us on the backfoot but like I said, our team never gave up and that’s one thing I am proud of despite the scoreline not reflecting it.” London City Lionesses head coach Melissa Phillips said: “A fantastic performance by the group as a whole. Real credit goes to the girls in the first half who managed the game really well against the wind and the conditions and the way that Palace plays in transition. “To score three early goals in the way that we did just made a statement for the way the rest of the game was going to go. We’re eager, hungry and we felt a bit hard done by the result last week, so we were looking to bounce back and put in a solid performance as we do week in, week out. “It’s always great to get an early goal and that’s something we talked about today as we wanted to start games a little bit quicker. We did just that and we’re really pleased with the way the group was able to execute it. “We know Shae can make big saves and she has done that all year for us. After we’ve gone three up, we were a little bit up against it but the girls did a fantastic job to see it through.” Crystal Palace: (4-2-3-1): Emily Orman; Lizzie Waldie, Gracie Pearse, Grace Coombs, Leanne Cowan; Aimee Everett, Kirsty Barton; Siobhan Wilson, Coral-Jade Haines, Bianca Baptiste; Millie Farrow Substitutes: Hannah Churchill for Barton 59, Alex Hennessy for Haines 75, Isabella Sibley for Baptiste 80 Substitutes not used: Charley Clifford, Sophie McLean, Molly Sharpe, Annabel Johnson, Leigh Nicol, Chloe Morgan Goals: Farrow 52 Bookings: Churchill 84 London City Lionesses: (4-1-4-1): Shae Yanez; Lucy Fitzgerald, Hayley Nolan, Harley Bennett, Jamie-Lee Napier; Charlotte Fleming; Karin Muya, Amy Rodgers, Mollie Rouse, Shanade Hopcroft; Atlanta Primus Substitutes: Lily Agg for Fleming 58, Annie Rossiter for Primus 66, Katie Kitching for Hopcroft 66, Alli Palisch for Fitzgerald 67 Substitutes not used: Anna Pedersen, Kenni Thompson, Wiktoria Fronc, Carly Girasoli, Brooke Nunn Goals: Fleming 18, Rodgers 21, 61, Grace Coombs (OG) 24, Rouse 51 Bookings: Bennett 14, Napier 86 Referee: Stacey Fullicks Attendance: 272